Office of China Programs

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China Development Grant - Crop and Soil

Dr. Hui Li, Department

Crop and Soil Sciences:

Michigan State University is advancing a strategic commitment to become recognized worldwide as the United States’ leading land-grant research university for the 21st  century. One of the strategic imperatives is to expand MSU’s international reach through academic, research, and economic development initiatives and global, national, and local strategic alliances. China is a rising country in the world in which MSU has many opportunities to extend its international outreaches. In developing strategic partnerships with China’s leading research and education institutes, MSU has to consider its own strengths. Among many internationally reputable programs at MSU, environmental science and agricultural sciences are two top-notch programs. According to the Thomson ISI database on the citation impact of published research papers, MSU environment/ecology ranks #5 and agricultural sciences ranks #4 among top research universities in the US (http://www.sciencewatch.com/sept-oct2002/sw_sept-oct2002_page2.htm). Building up strategic partnerships linked with these two programs will definitely attract many leading universities and research institutes in China.

The School of Environment, Nanjing University (NJU) is a leading environmental research and teaching institute in China. It also has a long history of a cooperative working relationship with MSU environmental science programs (see the background of the School of Environment, NJU below). The Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) (http://www.issas.ac.cn) is a leading research institute in soil sciences and natural resources. Establishing research and education strategic partnerships with these two leading institutes will benefit MSU for expanding its research and education programs in China as well as advancing MSU’s international reputation. This relationship is not simply to provide assistance to counterparts but rather foster close cooperation and collaboration with partners abroad for mutual benefits.

I graduated from the School of Environment, NJU with B.S. and M.S. degrees in environmental chemistry, and then served as an instructor in that school for two years before coming to Purdue University for my Ph.D. study. Currently, I am an assistant professor of environmental and soil chemistry in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences. The 9-year study and work at NJU allowed me to get to know and establish connections with several faculty members as well as the leadership team of the School of Environment, NJU. I have been maintaining collaborative relationships with several faculty members in the School of Environment, NJU. For example, I have been involved as co-PI in preparing two research proposals with faculty of NJU, which have been funded by the National Science Foundation of China. One projects is “Impacts of biosolids on fate, transport and bioavailability of polybrominated biphenyl ethers in the environment (January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2008. RMB ¥300,000) co-PI with Professors Hongxia Yu and Zhimin Kong, Nanjing University. Another is “Simultaneous remediation of organic-heavy metal co-contaminated soils (January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2007. RMB ¥240,000), co-PI with Dr. Hongyan Guo, Nanjing University. The results from these projects are beneficial to improve not only China’s environmental quality but also the environmental quality of the State of Michigan.

I have established research collaboration with individuals in the School of Environment, NJU. However, as a MSU faculty member I am not content with this individual-to-individual relationship. I would like to have a team of MSU faculty involved in establishing the strategic research and education partnership with the Environmental Science programs of NJU. Several faculty members are interested in visiting NJU and meeting with their faculty and students. Dr. Brian Teppen is an associate professor in Department of Crop and Soil Sciences. He also serves on the advisory board of the campus-wide Environmental Sciences and Policy Program (ESPP). He has a clear picture of MSU faculty research programs in the area of environmental sciences. Dr. Alvin Smucker, professor in Crop and Soil Sciences, is also interested in meeting with Chinese scientists working on carbon cycling and sequestration. Therefore, I would like to apply for this grant to partially support 3 MSU faculty members to visit Nanjing University and the Institute of Soil Science, CAS at Nanjing.

If the travel plan is funded, we are going to meet the faculty of the School of Environment, NJU and leading investigators from Institute of Soil Sciences, CAS. This is a good opportunity for MSU faculty to learn more about NJU, and the Institute of Soil Science, CAS. We will deliver scientific presentations of our own research programs, and introduce MSU environmental science and soil sciences programs to NJU and the Institute of Soil Science, CAS. We will discuss the potential to develop joint research and education programs. We will also show MSU environmental science research to NJU students, which will help MSU recruit the best students from NJU. NJU has an intention to develop a partnership with MSU ESPP. This trip will increase the communications between MSU faculty and NJU faculty. MSU also expands its international outreach through education and research with China’s leading research institute. In Nanjing, we will also meet the leading investigators in Soil Chemistry, and Soil Quality programs to pursue potential joint research programs.